debris inside brass

[Goomba]

has anyone ever had a problem where there may have been something stuck inside the brass when you reloaded it, and show it and debris came out other then unburned powder?

like a stuck rock from sweeping it up, or media still in brass after cleaning it?

 

[DukeInFlorida]

Everyone has that, always.

 

[wiskie762]

I get corncob media stuck all the time. just a little extra work. but i have never loaded a round with something in it.

 

[Goomba]

what measures do you use to fix it, i mean other then the obvious

 

[saltydude]

It's going to be more likely with longer/ smaller cases like .357 & 30 carbine.
When it comes to separating media, .45 ACP cases are a piece of cake, but others have a longer media separation time. Kind of a dusty noisy pain, but necessary.
I also tip every one upside down when loading to help prevent debris, to final inspect & check headstamp.

 

[EddieCoyle]

I switched media to the stuff I linked to in the Ceramic Media thread, I use decent media separators (Dillon for large batches and RCBS for small), and no longer have the problem. I don't think I've ever had a rock stuck in a case, but I have had smaller caliber brass nestled inside a larger case.

 

[Goomba]

So it seems I reloaded some 9mm the other day, and my brother (only other person who shoots me reloads) believes there was a rock in the case, although i disagree, neither of us can prove really 100% what it was, i think it may have been some leftover media that somehow got stuck and did not come out when I tipped them all over. he said when he fired the round, some debris hit him in the face, and cut his lip a little bit. we looked at some debris in his barrel but I'm still not sure what it was.

Also the brass case was inspected prior to because it jammed in the pistol and the slide was holding it in place.

so, what do you guys think?

 

[Scrivener]

Deformed case mouth and a shaving from it hit him on ejection.

THINK about it - how could you decap/resize a case with debris, especially a ROCK, in it?

 

[EddieCoyle]

So it seems I reloaded some 9mm the other day, and my brother (only other person who shoots me reloads) believes there was a rock in the case, although i disagree, neither of us can prove really 100% what it was, i think it may have been some leftover media that somehow got stuck and did not come out when I tipped them all over. he said when he fired the round, some debris hit him in the face, and cut his lip a little bit. we looked at some debris in his barrel but I'm still not sure what it was.

Also the brass case was inspected prior to because it jammed in the pistol and the slide was holding it in place.

so, what do you guys think?

Jesus. I didn't realize you loaded the thing.

What Scrivener said. Also, assuming you could somehow get it decapped without noticing, anything of size would've either caused the powder charge to overflow, or caused difficulty in seating the bullet.

 

[Kenny474]

Goomba, I don't think there is any way you could have loaded a round with a rock or anything else inside of decent size thats hard for that matter. You would have broken your depcapper pin at least, and most likely felt it inside when sizing. Anyway, why are you not inspecting the inside of your brass before loading? That should always be done, to avoid loading a case with crap inside it. And how is it going to make it from in the brass to your brothers face and not end up down the barrel and by whatever he was shooting at?

I would suspect he had something ricochet back at him, as that is the only logical explanation. I don't care what was in the case, it's not going to do a 1,200fps U-turn and come back at you. That or he had debris in his pistol that flew back at him when the slide came back.

If you are shooting at steel or a backstop with rocks on it, it's not that uncommon to have a piece of jacket come back at you, or a chunk of rock either, especially at pistol ranges.

Think about this logically, anything inside the case is going down range, not back at you. I just don't see it as possible for anything to make a U-turn and come back, unless you loaded a mini boomerang in it. Tell your brother to stop shooting at rocks and he won't have stuff hitting him in the face.

How far was he from whatever he was shooting at, and what was it? As that will tell the story better than anything else at this point.

But from now on CHECK YOUR BRASS BEFORE LOADING IT! That way you don't have to post stuff like this!

 

[Kenny474]

Also the brass case was inspected prior to because it jammed in the pistol and the slide was holding it in place.

If the round jammed it shouldn't have been fired IMHO. The brass could have been damaged, and then a piece of brass came back at him on ejection. I still feel it is more likely from a ricochet.

Guns are not toys and reloading is no joke. You need to take precautions with both of them. If a round jams, don't use it!

Also, don't let other people shoot your reloads! If a defective round blows a gun up in someone's hands and they get hurt it's your ass! Unless you are a licensed ammo manufacturer and are insured it's just not a good idea. Tell your brother to make his own ammo, as I'm sure you don't want to be responsible if something bad happens. I don't let anyone shoot my loads, even in my own guns. I would rather spend a few bucks at wally world and have peace of mind than worry about an overcharged round rearranging someone's face. Unless you are a certified instructor or manufacturer it's just better to keep your reloads to yourself so crap like this doesn't happen. Be thankful it's just a cut and not missing fingers or worse. Many on the forum have warned against using someone else's reloads, that is advice I will gladly take.

 

[Finalygotabeltfed]

has anyone ever had a problem where there may have been something stuck inside the brass when you reloaded it, and show it and debris came out other then unburned powder?

like a stuck rock from sweeping it up, or media still in brass after cleaning it?

I've had debris stuck in cases before and after tumbling. Small rocks, well hardened mud and paper debris from homasote backstop in brass that had been on the range and were rained on, tumbling media that had polish/media blobs in them from not running the tumbler long enough before adding brass or from adding additional polish mid cycle with brass already in the tumbler.

I've never reloaded any brass with debris inside as I do a final check on my brass, looking into them a fistful at a time under a bright light to make sure they are all clear inside and I can see the flash holes.

Large granule "lizzard litter" is also a problem and will cause problems in small necked cases like .223. Use small granule media to avoid this.

Take the time to look at and "in" your cases before placing them into the resizing die. I learned this the hard way early on after breaking a decapping pin.(naturally it was the only one I had on hand and had to wait to get another to resume reloading..."Murphy's Law", never broke one when I had ten spares on hand.)

 

[Hillie4life]

I'm "the brother"

It’s amazing the spectrum of advice given.

What happened was, the round fired which resulted in the debris was not the round that was stuck in the slide. It was a 15 round magazine, the very first shell fired stove-piped (after being fired) and the 13th round was the one where debris was the issue.

Upon firing the (13th) round at a 7m target (with a 25m sand backstop at a pistol range) I instantly felt multiple objects hit my face. I dropped the magazine, cleared it and walked out to my car mirror where I noticed a few small objects (what looked like small different colored rocks) on my face along with a small cut on my lip.

When I returned to the pistol, I disassembled it and pushed a cleaning rod with a small cloth down the barrel onto a white piece of paper where a few more different colored, small circular objects were seen. To me it was obvious that they were little rocks, but since I do not reload I was not entirely confident in my conclusion at the time.

I didn’t shoot at any rocks, the round wasn’t disfigured when it was loaded into the magazine and subsequently fired.

So aside from boomerang theories... some sound advice would be appreciated. For those of you who have already attempted to give it with the information provided, thank you.


In my honest opinion, I think there were a few small rocks stuck in the back of the case so when reloaded and eventually fired, it caused this chain of events. To me, getting hit in the face with a little debris is not the end of the world (I’ve been hit in the face with larger objects ) but I would like to know what happened, if anything similar has happened to this large knowledge base, and if this can be prevented.

What does worry me is the thought of damaging the pistol (or any other firearm when reloads are used) or the potential for this to be an ignored learning experience where the next time could be worse.

I know the rule of thumb is to not shoot anyone else’s reloads, or don’t let anyone else shoot yours but what hasn’t been said is that my brother is doing me an invaluable favor. By making cost effective rounds available he is helping me prepare for my deployment to Afghanistan… so the importance of practice is obvious.

So he is doing me a big favor, I just want to make sure all of the appropriate precautions could be taken since we are both new to reloading.

Thank you for your time.

 

[Kenny474]

Like I said before, even if there were debris in the case, how would it make it back to you? I am baffled at how something that should be traveling down the bore could come back and hit you. Unless the debris was stuck in the pistol from previous rounds and hit you on ejection.

If you want to use Goomba's ammo, go over and make sure he cleans his brass.

 

[Goomba]

If you want to use Goomba's ammo, go over and make sure he cleans his brass.

all he has to do is go downstairs, and he can hear the tumbler going.

 

[EddieCoyle]

The only thing I can figure is that perhaps your powder got contaminated with something.

How else would small rock-like debris get in (and stay in) the case?

Like Kenny474, I'm a bit perplexed as to how something got from the inside of the case to your face. I'm not doubting you, I just don't get it.

Did the round fire normally (other than spitting rocks at you)?

Is it possible that the pistol fired out of battery? Did you get a look at the fired case?

 

[Goomba]

Round a believe was fired normally other then the debris

everything was normal.

 

[Marcus5aurelius]

I don't see a feasible way that the debris came from your gun at all. The only chance would be ejection but that wouldn't have the correct angle (I would think) to come directly back at the shooter's face. It would only have the correct angle to hit someone watching the shooter on the same side that ejected. I've seen blowback from revolvers plenty of times, but never in a semi auto. My guess would be that it came from an external source, either richochet or maybe something else. Despite the unlikelihood of that happening, it's the only thing that I could think of happening given the situation.

 

[Kicker96FS]

Maybe this is how he did it?

 

[Marcus5aurelius]

Maybe this is how he did it?

I thought of that, but I doubt any NESer would actually do that

 

[Kenny474]

Maybe look inside the fired case(if you have it) and see if there are scratches or score marks, as that would indicate debris was in the case. It's a longshot, but still possible to have scored the case, as there would be plenty of pressure to cause it.

Also, as EC stated, check your powder to see if it has been contaminated. I would dump it on a sheet pan and go through it along with your powder dispenser.

I would also check all your cases prior to loading under a bright light to be sure there is no debris in them to prevent this from happening again. I would also strip the pistol completely and check it for any dirt or debris that may have caused it as well.

What kind of pistol is it? I only ask as I have been looking on the net for other occurrences like this. Also was anybody else firing at the same time? This has baffled me since I first read it, and other than a ricochet I can't find or think of any other cause. I have been hit with debris before, but it's usually jacket or rock debris. I hope you find the source of the problem so as to prevent a recurrence.

 

[NavelOfficer]

I read somewhere that many shoot with the firearm sideways because that's how it comes in the box!

 

[DukeInFlorida]

Factory Balanced!

BTW, EC.... thanks for deleting my earlier rant...... (I know it was you....)

I read somewhere that many shoot with the firearm sideways because that's how it comes in the box!

 

[Hillie4life]

Maybe this is how he did it?

Haha, negative.

I can't think of anything that would have ricochet the round back, since I had fired many rounds that day at the same target area and not had an issue. I'm not saying its not possible, just that I wouldn't have fired intentionally into something that could return the round.

It was a Beretta 92FS, brandy new a few months ago, have fired maybe 500-700 rounds through it? And it was at about the 150 round count for that day... I clean it regularly.

I haven't had a chance to strip it down and clean it out further, once the incident occurred we just called it a day. I plan to clean it when I have a chance, but if it turns up anything else I will let you guys know. As far as I know we did not recover the exact shell it was fired out of, though that would have been nice. There was no one else firing at the time.

As was said before, I know its not the end of the world. But I'd rather put it out there and ask then blindly move forward.

Thanks for the insight guys.

 

[Mr.T]

In my honest opinion, I think there were a few small rocks stuck in the back of the case so when reloaded and eventually fired, it caused this chain of events. To me, getting hit in the face with a little debris is not the end of the world (I’ve been hit in the face with larger objects ) but I would like to know what happened, if anything similar has happened to this large knowledge base, and if this can be prevented.

I know the rule of thumb is to not shoot anyone else’s reloads, or don’t let anyone else shoot yours but what hasn’t been said is that my brother is doing me an invaluable favor. By making cost effective rounds available he is helping me prepare for my deployment to Afghanistan… so the importance of practice is obvious.

Here's hoping that a little debris in the face is the worst that happens to you on your deployment. Good luck, and take care over there.